Foot In Your Mouth
by Setkia
Summary: "Sorry," he said quickly. "You're unnaturally pretty and I don't know how to deal with it." He reached out quickly and grabbed a glass from the counter, beginning to chug down its contents in order to shut himself up. And people wondered why he stayed home.
1. Chapter 1

**_Author's Note:_** _I don't own_ ** _Percy Jackson & the Olympians_** _. I have not finished the_ ** _Heroes of Olympus_** _series, I stopped after_ ** _Mark of Athena_** _and have decided to pick it up again but I don't remember anything so I'm re-reading, but I can't stand to have them mention Percy and him NOT BE THERE. I'm a sucker for awkward boys who said cute, nonsensical things, and thus this story was created. Fluff and horrible pick-up lines alert. I might expand this oneshot, if you guys want. But I need a response before I do that. Anything you recognize, I do not own._

* * *

 ** _Foot In Your Mouth  
_** _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **"Sorry," he said quickly. "You're unnaturally pretty and I don't know how to deal with it." He reached out quickly and grabbed a glass from the counter, beginning to chug down its contents in order to shut himself up. And people wondered why he stayed home.**

* * *

"Your hair curls like a princess'."

The girl gave him a strange look, her piercing grey eyes making him freeze.

"Sorry," he said quickly. "You're unnaturally pretty and I don't know how to deal with it." He reached out quickly and grabbed a glass from the counter, beginning to chug down its contents in order to shut himself up. And people wondered why he stayed home.

"I'm flattered," said the girl sounding a tad confused. "You're not so bad looking yourself."

"I would say I just threw this on, but I actually spent about two to three hours making sure I was a presentable mess rather than an undignified mess before going out."

"Honest. I appreciate it." The girl grinned, holding out her hand. "I'm Annabeth."

"Percy." He rocked on the soles of his feet. "Annabeth, huh? That's a … different name." And it was, he had never heard of anyone with that name before. "I don't suppose I can call you Annie?"

"You can," she said, her finger circling the rim of her glass, "if you don't mind dying young."

"I respect that." Percy nodded in her direction in a weird way of accepting the fact that Annie was not an acceptable title to address her by. "So long as you don't call me Perseus."

"And why would I call you that?"

"Because my mom loves Greek mythology and couldn't resist." Percy wanted to smack his head against the wall. What the hell was he doing?

The girl laughed. "I'm rather fond of Greek mythology myself. Ever heard of Athena?"

"Goddess of wisdom and battle strategy," Percy recited from memory. "Dammit, I'm letting my geek show."

"Your geek is always showing with the way you wear your hair," said Annabeth, nodding towards his head.

"What, you don't like?" Percy asked, his eyes lifting to his fringe as though he could somehow see his hair the way Annabeth saw it. He knew he should've gotten a different haircut.

"No, I like. It's .. cute."

"Cute how? Cute like that's cute and kind of adorable, I-kinda-wanna-run-my-fingers-through-it, or cute like how some girls find test tubes to be really cute?" Ananbeth raised an eyebrow at him. "Sorry, I get really anxious around beautiful women."

Annabeth snorted. "I don't think I've seen you around before."

"Probably not, my friend says I'm a introvert. I'm not, just sometimes other people tire me out. I don't spend all day playing on a PlayStation and chilling out to Netflix."

"Oh no?"

"Only half-days."

"And the rest of the day?"

"At the pool."

Annabeth raised an eyebrow. "You swim?"

"A bit."

"How much is a bit?"

Percy could feel himself loosening up a bit. She was surprisingly easy to talk to and somehow, his weird ramblings hadn't gotten him more than a weird stare. "Was captain of the swim team in high school, won a few competitions, have a few medals. Nothing major."

"Right … Are you trying to be humble here, cause it doesn't really sound like it."

"I think I'm trying to be humble but at the same time trying to impress you because as I said before, you're highly attractive. Did it work?" Percy blushed, feeling his entire face heating up. "Um … sorry."

"So why are you here?" She acted as though he hadn't just pathetically flirted with her and for that reason, he was grateful.

"My friend dragged me out. I don't really like loud music." Percy glanced over his shoulder. "Would you … I mean … do you wanna find some place quiet outside to talk? I swear I'm not going to rape you."

"Just what every girl wants to hear," Annabeth said with a grin. "Sure, Seaweed Brain."

"Great." Percy didn't even bother registering that she had just insulted him.

The two of them exited the club, the fresh air hitting their faces.

"So … We've only been talking about me. What about you? You mentioned a liking for Greek mythology?"

"Yeah," said Annabeth. "I have a great interest in reading and I'm kind of dyslexic. The myths made it worth the headache."

"I had this really great Latin teacher, he got us all really into it. Best grade I ever got was in his class. Still can't spell Prometheus though … I'm kinda dyslexic too." Percy shrugged. "Should I also confess to other things while I'm at it?"

"Like what?"

"Like that I have ADHD, enjoy eating blue food and like to pretend my pen is a sword?"

"How does that even work?"

"You sure you're not going to call me weird?"

"I already think you're weird. I don't think you can possibly do anything to convince me you're a normal person anymore, so you may as well lay all the cards on the table." Annabeth grinned. "Plus, I'm curious about what you'll come up with, Fish Boy."

"I think I preferred Seaweed Brain." Percy took out a ball-point pen from his front pocket. "See, if you hold it this way," he tilted his pen, "And then imagine a blade coming out, it's all pretty cool. I had way too much time during math classes and what not. I was pretty good in PE though …" _Shut up, just shut up, what are you saying? You sound stupid and like the biggest nerd on he planet. "My pen is a sword"? What if she had taken that the wrong way?_

"Hmm … Suppose I may as well spill some beans as well, while we're being honest. I have an interest in architecture, am horrifyingly and embarrassingly afraid of spiders, and I'm a huge lover of puzzles and mysteries." Annabeth was silent for a moment. "Perseus was the one who slayed Medusa, am I right?"

"You would be correct. He married Andromeda, a woman he found imprisoned on the rocks while going to bring down the king. He got a happy ending. My mother's a sucker for those."

"Are you a momma's boy?"

"And if I am?"

"I think it's cute."

"Cute like that's-adorable-he-acts-like-he's-four, or cute like that's-an-admirable-trait-of-a-man-who's-nearing-his-mid-twenties?"

"Can I get back to you on that one?"

Percy shoved his hands into his pockets awkwardly. "Well I've put a lot of effort into this conversation so if I were to suddenly find out you had a boyfriend or were married or something I would probably go home, cry into a pillow and then never be seen by anyone ever again, scarred for the rest of my life by a woman I hardly know from a run-down, dingy-looking bar that I've never been to before."

"Is that your not-so-subtle way of asking me if I'm single?"

"Maybe …"

"I am. Single. Best date I've ever been on is with Peeta, for about five hours until he got Hijacked."

"Ooh, _Hunger Games_ fan then?" Percy laughed. "If I told you that if you needed a boyfriend, I volunteered as tribute, would you laugh in my face?"

"Probably."

"Oh. Well … good thing I didn't say that then …"

"Then I'd probably kiss you …"

"Really? Even if I'm basically a stranger whose last name you don't even know?"

"Yeah."

"Oh." Percy was silent for a moment. "If you need a boyfriend, I volunteer as tribute."

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Moment's gone and over, but props to you for making a geeky pick-up-line like that naturally flow into a conversation."

"Is that enough props to get me a kiss?"

Annabeth kissed him lightly on the cheek. "I suppose. Gale would've been smoother though."

"You cold?"

"No, not really. You?"

"Absolutely freezing." Percy rubbed his arms, despite the fact that he was the one wearing the sweatshirt while she stood there wearing her plain orange top. He contemplated jumping jacks to get his blood flowing but then decided against it; he had made too much of a fool of himself tonight.

"So do you have a favorite god?"

"Huh?"

"You said you like Greek mythology too."

"Um … Poseidon's pretty cool."

"Natural enemy of Athena," Annabeth noted.

"Yeah, the whole Athens deal, right?" Percy shook his head. "No, I think it just has to do with my liking for water. And shouldn't technically Hephaestus be the natural enemy of Poseidon, being the god of blacksmiths and fire?"

"You know, I heard that Hera threw Hephaestus off Mount Olympus for being so ugly."

"Well that doesn't really solve the ugly problem, does it?"

"Would you still love your child if they were ugly?"

"Depends …"

Annabeth smacked him in the shoulder. It genuinely hurt.

"I was kidding, yeah, course. It's my kid right? Don't know how he came into existence since the last time I got any was like four years ago, but yeah, I'd love him. Maybe encourage some plastic surgery later on in life, but otherwise? Total doting father."

"Did you just confess to a lack of a sex life to a stranger?"

"We've been talking for like half an hour, I wouldn't call you a stranger, more like an acquaintance."

"Ooh, upgraded status."

"So … Are you a daughter of Hermes? Cause you stole my heart."

"That was almost as bad as your _Hunger Games_ pick-up-line."

"I tried."

"I can tell."

"Sorry. Would you like to smite me down with Zeus' lightning?"

"You really _are_ a Greek mythology nerd."

"Yeah, kinda. Sorry."

"No, it's okay. I like it."

They fell into silence. Percy was sure he was out of his league here. Sure, the girl hadn't shunned him horribly for those two horrible pick-up lines, but he knew it was just a matter of time before she rolled her eyes and went back inside. He hadn't realized he had been expecting everything to unfold like a cheap romantic comedy until it didn't and he felt disappointed.

Annabeth cleared her throat. "So … Percy, was it? What about you?"

"What about me?" He felt himself clam up. Don't screw this up, he told himself.

"Are you single?"

"Do I not look single enough to you?" _Too late, you screwed up_. She glanced at him, taking in his messed up dark hair and green eyes, his almost too big sweatshirt with the sleeves that were just long enough that he could hide his entire hand in them and his ripped jeans. "On second thought, don't answer that."

Annabeth grinned. "You didn't come here to get laid, did you?"

"Not really," Percy shrugged, leaning against a tree, hoping it would stop the light breeze from ruffling his hair any further and thereby making him even colder. "Believe it or not, guys think about more than sex."

"What are you thinking about right now?"

"What it would be like if you gave me a blowjob."

Annabeth smacked him again. It hurt.

"I was kidding," Percy said. "I was thinking … what would it take to get your number?"

"Forward aren't you?" she asked.

"Yup, that's me. Mr. Forward. To The Point Guy, no beating around the bush with me—"

"Percy?"

"Yes?"

"Shut up."

Percy nodded and tilted forward on his toes. He began to dig his foot into the ground, watching as he destroyed some ant hole and created a crater for the ants to hide from. One dead ant, two dead ants, he was pretty sure he had killed a family and by extension, a colony of the little buggers.

Annabeth's hair, which was pulled up in a ponytail, had several lose strands coming from it. Percy reached out to push them behind her ear but she turned her head away at the last moment. Percy tried not to be hurt.

"Sorry," she said.

Percy swallowed, ready to respond to her rejection with a crooked smile and tell her some lame joke, maybe throw in one last horrible pick-up line for good measure and then go on his way, cursing his friends for forcing him out of the house to get his heart broken by a girl who had managed to steal it within less than an hour, until she said—

"I don't have a cell phone, do you mind taking an e-mail address?"

Percy's head perked up immediately. "No, not at all." Yeah, cause that didn't sound desperate.

Annabeth grinned. "Could I have your phone?"

Percy nearly dropped his phone in his rush to get it out of his pocket and hand it over. Annabeth flipped it open and input her name and e-mail, before handing it back. "Nice doing business with you, Mr. Jackson."

Percy stared. "How—?"

"It's in your phone," Annabeth said.

"Annabeth! Where did you go? Thalia told me you went off with a suspicious looking guy!"

The two of them turned to see a girl with brown hair and kaleidoscope eyes, sighing when she saw Annabeth and beginning to run towards her.

"I'm not suspicious looking, am I?"

"A bit."

The girl finally got to them and placed a hand on her shoulder. "I've been looking for you everywhere— who's this guy?"

"That would be Percy, the suspicious guy," said Annabeth.

Almost immediately the girl blushed. "I am so sorry, was I interrupting something?"

"No, nothing," said Percy quickly. "I was just uh … going to go back inside," he lied. He should really work on that.

"What do you want Piper?" asked Annabeth.

"We can't find Leo, he went off somewhere, probably flirting with some other girl way out of his league," said Piper. "I'm sorry, I could leave you guys alone if you want …?"

Annabeth glanced at Percy as though asking him what he thought. "You should go," he said. "Can't lose a friend in the club, can you?" He wasn't going to force her to stay and besides, he had to recollect his wits and he couldn't do that with her there. Plus the fact that she even asked about his opinion meant a lot to him.

"Contact me, okay? We should hang out sometime," said Annabeth, giving him a smile and it left him standing shell-shocked and amazed. She had really white teeth.

"Yeah. Okay."

He watched the two girls walk away, Piper going on about how Annabeth had found herself a real hunk when Percy finally managed to move his body and jumped into the air, pumping a fist.

Maybe leaving the house wasn't such a bad idea after all.


	2. Chapter 2

_**Author's Note #1**_ _: Hello people who must not know me too well to know that I write 2 author notes, one to tell you I don't own the story/tell you about my life and the second to thank people for taking the time to pay attention to this story. So here's the deal: looked at the_ _ **Lost Hero**_ _cover a bit more and recognized it. It was Québec City, which I realized later was actually a part of the book (I was looking for a French mistake, just to feel superior. Found none.) which I had forgotten. I also forgot how much I love Leo. I mean, I like Leo and all, I was routing for him and all his hopeless endeavours to romance, but at the same time while I said that, I had forgotten how AWESOME he is. I am sorry Leo Valdez, please forgive me for my ignorance. Forgot to mention this, but this is AU, if you couldn't tell. Also, don't argue about Percy's height. I got into a long and debated talk about it and since it says he's not "tall", but he's "tall", we chose the height we did. Also, I'm totally Annabeth. I don't know my own phone number._

* * *

 ** _Foot In Your Mouth  
_** _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **"Sorry," he said quickly. "You're unnaturally pretty and I don't know how to deal with it." He reached out quickly and grabbed a glass from the counter, beginning to chug down its contents in order to shut himself up. And people wondered why he stayed home.**

* * *

To: Annabeth Chase

From: Percy Jackson

Subject: Hey, Remember Me?

 _Hey uh …. it's Percy, or Seaweed Brain as you called me. We met about a week ago at that club, Olympus, and we got talking? I told you bad pick-up lines and then your friend came over and brutally pulled us apart? Am I ringing any bells? I was the one who called you attractive about a hundred times?_

 _Never realized how one-sided e-mails are until you hit send._

 _I've probably written this e-mail about thirty-seven times and am still undecided on how to proceed. I'm starting to think I waited too long to contact you (because I didn't want to come off as needy) and since you know, I kind of realized I never gave you any way to contact me which might've given off the wrong impression that I didn't want to see you again, which I do …_

 _I think the longer this e-mail is the bigger a fool I'll make of myself._

 _So I just hope this is the right e-mail and I haven't just sent out a thing to some random old lady or body builder man or whatever._

 _Awkwardly,_

 _Percy_

 _P.S. I'm really hoping this isn't a fake e-mail cause I was that one cute guy that you talked to but decided you didn't like enough to see again so you faked not having a cell and instead gave some crummy address to him …_

Percy stared at the e-mail.

 _Wrong, wrong, WRONG!_

He should just dig himself a hole, climb in and fill it with water. Drowning himself wouldn't be the worst way to go. He couldn't send this thing to the attractive blonde.

 _No, you're going to do this. When was the last time you got in the game? Do they still call it that? Press send, idiot, before you second-guess yourself again._

Percy pressed send.

Instantly he regretted it. He shook his computer screen, desperately praying for the e-mail to come bouncing back, part of him hoping it _was_ a fake e-mail just so he didn't embarrass himself anymore in front of the grey-eyed beauty.

He let his head smack against the keys, groaning.

"Perce, what are you doing?"

Percy sat back up, a loose K stuck to his forehead. He needed a new laptop, all the keys were falling out.

"Nothing," he said hurriedly. "I was just … uh …"

"Hmm?" pressed his best friend Grover, raising an eyebrow at him. He leaned forward, looking over Percy's shoulder and began to grin like a maniac. "Who's Annabeth?"

"No one!" he said quickly. "Well, someone of course, I'm not going to deny her existence, but no one you need to be concerned about."

Grover's grin split even wider to astronomical proportions. "Have I ever mentioned to you what a complete moron you sound like when you get all flustered? You're twenty-four, Perce, learn to lie a bit."

"She's no one okay?" Percy said, rolling his eyes and yet he nervously glanced back at the screen. "She's just some girl I met."

"The one who got you all pink last Friday?"

"Maybe …"

"Does she know you're such a pathetic loser?"

Percy smacked Grover over the head, affectionately, but aggressively. "Shut up, would you? I was way out of my league. I hardly think she remembers me." It was true, she was definitely worlds more attractive than him, was able to beat him to a pulp, and hadn't been nearly as awkward and fumble-y as he had been. He had his foot in his mouth throughout the entire conversation while she had been all cool and collected.

"I'm just kidding, I'm sure this is great for you," said Grover. "Ever since that thing with Calypso."

"There was never anything with Calypso—"

"She's totally in love with you, can't you tell?"

"What? No she's not!"

"I bet the only reason you're friends with her is because you've got a fetish for all things Greek."

"You know me, baklava has got me all hot and bothered." Percy rolled his eyes. "Anyway, don't you have a date with Juniper? What are you doing over here?"

"Well, I was going to ask you to join, drag you into a double date with the lovely Ms. Dare—"

"I've told you a thousand times, Rachel does not have hots for me."

"She's going to be very disappointed that some bimbo has stolen you away from her—"

"Annabeth is plenty smart. Smarter than me," Percy admitted.

"That's not that hard to beat," Grover said. He ruffled Percy's hair and gripped his shoulders. "Ah, young love! You have fun, waiting on your _You've Got Mail_ fantasy."

Percy's laptop notified him that he had mail.

He immediately launched himself forward towards his computer and ignored Grover's laughter at him for his reaction. Part of him was scared it was some advertisement or junk mail but when he saw her name in the address bar, he almost had a heart attack.

"Have fun, Meg Ryan."

"Who says I'm not Tom Hanks?"

Grover laughed and closed the door to Percy's apartment behind him as the dark haired man leaned over in his chair, trying not to get ahead of himself. With a shaking hand, he opened the e-mail.

To: Percy Jackson

From: Annabeth Chase

Subject: Re: Hey, Remember Me?

 _Still as awkward as ever, aren't you, Seaweed Brain? As if I could forget the one who so anxiously volunteered to be my boyfriend. Don't let it go to your head, but when you compliment a girl every ten minutes about her appearance, you make yourself hard to forget._

 _That girl you met before, she's Piper. She's sorry about the whole interrupting thing, she claims she was saving me from a stalker. I don't think you're a stalker, by the way. I work part-time at a diner downtown, you should visit. It's called Yancy's, ever been there? I drink too much coffee for my own health, maybe you'd join me for a cup? Since you volunteered and all._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Annabeth_

 _P.S. I actually do have a cell phone, but the embarrassing bit is I can't remember my cell number. Mainly cause I have very few friends who I all text first and then just add me to their contacts. Give me yours and we can talk anytime._

Percy had to resist the urge to dance around his apartment. Instead, he got to work writing a response.

* * *

Annabeth stared at her e-mail and couldn't help smiling. That was a much faster reply than she had expected, not that she minded all that much.

When she had been forced out by her friends to go to Olympus she had never expected to be clumsily swept off her feet by a five foot eight and a half man with messy dark hair and sea green eyes that reminded her of (as cheesy as it sounded) sunset walks alongside the ocean. He was tanned and wore over-sized clothes and was adorkably awkward and fumble-y. She didn't know what else to call him other than adorably dorky and geeky and a bonus was that unlike all her other friends who just tolerated her obsession with Greek mythology, he embraced it and seemed just as gods-obsessed as she was.

With a grin that probably looked foolish on her face, she opened his e-mail.

To: Annabeth Chase

From: Percy Jackson

Subject: RE:RE: Hey, Remember Me?

 _Yancy's, huh? I hear they're kind of stuck up there, all fancy and that sort of thing. I'm not much of a coffee man, but I suppose I could stop by. I just sounded totally uninterested, didn't I? I didn't mean to, I do like you. A lot. Probably more than I should for someone I've only met once and bumbled my way through our conversation with a few horribly timed pick-up lines._

 _What are your hours? I'll stop by if I can. While we're mentioning jobs, I'm a life guard. I'm on the clock from 9 in the morning till 5 at night, but any time after that I would love to stop by._

 _Do you have any idea how hard it is to write an e-mail and pray you won't make stupid spelling/grammar mistakes so that an incredibly beautiful woman won't laugh at you?_

 _I think I've realized my broken filter applies even to e-mails, despite the fact that it shouldn't since I have time to think about these e-mails before I send them but choose to send them before I regret everything I've ever done in my life._

 _Am I interrupting your work? I am so sorry!_

 _Quirkily,_

 _Percy_

 _P.S. I don't mean to sound rude but you could've just asked for my phone number. If you wanted to talk to me, that is. Dyslexic people like me tend to avoid texting. And anyway I'll give it to you when I see you. If I see you. If you want it. I'm shutting up now._

Annabeth couldn't help but blush.

The thing about Percy that made him so different to her was his openness. She knew few men who were so aware of their own feelings and so upfront about them. He was very blunt to the point where others would call it rude but with the way he rubbed his neck and dug his foot into the ground you could tell he was humble and just socially awkward. Besides there was a little habit of his that she found endearing.

She had been called pretty, sexy, hot by many men. She was attractive with a slim, surfer figure, blonde hair and grey eyes that tended to catch others off guard. She was tanned and well-muscled, she wore nice clothes and went about life like anyone else but the thing was that you could call a girl pretty and she could never believe you.

Annabeth wasn't under the illusion she was ugly, but she had never felt beautiful before.

The way Percy had told her up front on their first encounter how attractive she was, he had called her beautiful and maybe a girl needed to be called beautiful more often than sexy or hot. He never used those terms. The way he said it like fact, as though there was no way anyone could not find her attractive and become as tongue-tied as he had made her feel it.

When Percy looked her in the eyes, perhaps a bit too intimate for her to handle, she had felt beautiful from the crown of her head to her toes. All her insecurities seemed to fall away under his gaze, and she couldn't help feeling flattered and acting like she was in high school.

Perhaps she was acting like a school girl with a crush, but if she had met Percy in high school she had no doubt she would've had a crush on him. Captain of the swim team he had said. As a life-guard, he must be very attractive underneath all the humble shirts. She was sure if he had gone to her school they would've eaten him up. For one because she had gone to an all-girls school and for another, because Percy just seemed so innocent it wouldn't surprise her if he got overwhelmed by a large crowd of girls attacking him all at once. And they would attack him.

The quiet, sort of shy type with the amazing hair that just screamed to be touched. Yes, everyone would've drooled over him. Everyone probably drooled over him now. She had no doubt that he probably had a bunch of girls at his wimp who he didn't realize liked him. How he was single was a mystery to her, but she would not oppose to a good thing.

Besides, she needed something like this after Luke.

Cracking her knuckles, unable to get that stupid grin off her face, Annabeth got ready to type her reply.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2:**_ _The thank-yous, where I personally reply to all of your reviews and favorites/follows. I'll have more to say if you review._

 _nerdycook24_ _: I really loved writing Percy that way. Percy in this story is like me, but you know ... I'm a girl. I do like it, the confidence is attractive but at the same time I find awkward uncertainty is really cute too. So if I were to tag Percy in this story I would call him oblivious/awkward/adorable/adorkable/sweet/clumsy/geeky/dorky. Yeah, this is why I don't tag things, I'd overtag._

 _Vexy Minion:_ _I am going to do something I promised myself i would not do and it is this: let the story go where it takes me. Basically, each chapter will determine the next chapter with no actual plan. If you have requests, make them._

 _Thundercade_ _: Thank you, I love to make others laugh. If I can make you laugh (unable to hold it the better), I am very happy with my achievements._

 _Rampageblast_ _: So yeah ... multi-chapter. I'm not really planning anything specifically, it's going to be very random/randomly chosen things._

 _If you guys have a request, please tell me!_

 _Now the other thank-yous for:_

 _Favorites:_ _HBooks15, King of Beasts 007, PurplePiratedofProcastination, Rampageblast, SpiritAni, Thundercade, Vexy Minion, celestiawishfulsoda, devonleney27, fio16 ,_ _and_ _nerdycook24_

 _Follows:_ _Rampageblast, Thundercade, Vexy Minion_ _, and __nerdycook24_ _._


	3. Chapter 3

**_Author's Note #1_** _: So I've been watching too much_ ** _Doctor Who,_** _but also that got me really inspired. That and_ ** _Haikyūu_** _, I just love volleyball and last night I was writing like 50 MILLION prompts not even from the show, but inspired by other's fanfictions. I don't own_ ** _Percy Jackson and the Olympians_** _. I came up with this whole little Percy scene before I wrote anything. I was just like, "how would I do it?" and yeah, this Percy is basically me. Except I'm not as awesome. When he does it, it's cute. When I do it, I look like a freak of nature. Sorry I have a lot to say so a lot of this chapter might just be my ending author's note. Don't ask me where this went, I've got no idea. I played around a bit with geography, and also this chapter's not like the rest. Just cause of something that happens near the middle, but I think it's still okay._

* * *

 ** _Foot In Your Mouth  
_** _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **"Sorry," he said quickly. "You're unnaturally pretty and I don't know how to deal with it." He reached out quickly and grabbed a glass from the counter, beginning to chug down its contents in order to shut himself up. And people wondered why he stayed home.**

* * *

It was official. Percy was a stalker. He looked that way at the very least from the way he was looking into the diner from the window for the past several minutes, unmoving. It was six thirty. He hadn't wanted to seem needy and turn up early for fear of making an even bigger fool of himself. He took a deep breath. He could do this.

 _You walk forward, open the door and casually talk. Yeah. Open and close your mouth, make vowel sounds, you've done this a hundred times, why is this any different?_

 _Maybe because she's a beautiful woman with curly blonde hair and eyes like thunder?_

He coughed into his hand and looked away. Part of him wanted to hide underneath the hood of his jacket while the other half told him to get it over with and open the damn door. He teetered on the balls of his feet. He turned around. It had been three days since the e-mail exchange, clearly he was too anxious, too eager. She was off at seven, he had half an hour to decide what he was going to do before she inevitable left the building and found him here like the creep he was. He had known the girl for perhaps ten days, had spoken to her face to face once and had exchanged perhaps half-a-dozen e-mails and now he was chickening out. What was he doing with his life?

He should just walk away, while he still had his dignity and pride. Yeah, whatever was left of it anyway. He was ready to turn and walk when he heard her laughter and it made him freeze.

Curse him for being so vulnerable to that sound. He wanted to hear it again and if he remembered right, he was awkward enough to make her laugh several times. He could do this.

He stared in front of the door and ducked his head.

 _You can do this. Do it. One foot in front of the other, open the door and just do it. Stop sounding like a Nike commercial— Nike, the goddess of victory,— no, now's not the time to be thinking of Greek things. Gods, you're going to screw this up if you think about it too much, just walk and—_

And then someone behind him shoved past him and pushed him forward against the door. Percy's hands went out to save himself and he fell forward, the door opening.

Well he couldn't back out now, could he?

He shoved his hands in his pockets, sure he looked like a criminal and considered things. It was a diner. He never went into diners. Did he have to ask someone to give him a table? Did he just get a table and the waiter came to him? Did he have to make a reservation? He was sure he looked suspicious, with a pair of tattered old jeans and a white sweatshirt on from his work with the word life-guard written in capital red letters across the back.

Finally he slid into a booth and looked out the window. He knew exactly where she was, but he was scared to look at her. If he did he was sure one of two things would happen; one, he would seem like even more of a stalker than he was, and second, he would make a fool of himself in front of her again. Knowing his luck, he'd probably be stuck doing both.

 _Don't let me screw this up. Be calm, be cool, be neutral. Wait, don't be neutral, don't make her think you're not interested._

Percy needed some lessons in social interaction.

 _It'll be fine. Just make sure she doesn't catch you off guard._ He could imagine Grover putting his hands on his shoulders, whispering in his ear to go and get her, just act normal and don't get too flustered.

 _"Just be yourself, Perce,"_ he could hear him say. _"She'll like you for sure that way. And don't do anything stupid. Be confident. Read the atmosphere."_

But the problem was Percy _couldn't_ read the atmosphere. Ever.

* * *

 _He's here. Dammit, he's actually here._

Annabeth had not anticipated Percy turning up so quickly. She had realized he was there the moment he was standing outside the diner looking just a bit lost. She had watched him nearly back out and then force himself forward. Had watched him awkwardly try and get his bearings and finally, saw him sit down and he was now staring out the window. Maybe he hadn't noticed her?

"Hey, Annie, there's a hottie at eight o'clock."

"How many times have I told you not to—?" The words died in Annabeth's throat when she saw where her coworker was pointing. Straight at Percy. She knew others would find him attractive.

"Do you think he's single?" asked Drew. She was practically salivating over him and Annabeth could just tell that Percy wouldn't know how to deal with her if he were to encounter her.

"I don't think so," lied Annabeth. "I'll wait on him."

"No, let me, I want his number."

"You never work, one less client will hardly make a difference," Annabeth pointed out. "He looks … uncomfortable. I think you'll just make it worse." And he did look unsteady, he was pulling at his clothes, his sweatshirt once again too big on him. He was clenching his fists underneath the fabric as it wrapped around his hands.

Before Drew could protest, Annabeth was walking towards him, trying not to walk too quickly or to seem to eager.

"May I take your order, Mr. Jackson?"

It was fun, watching Percy jump a foot in the air.

"Oh. It's you," he said and it didn't sound insulting, just like a fact.

"Yeah, I work here," Annabeth said, smiling at him lopsidedly. He gave her an identical one in response. "Anything I can get you?"

"Um … water's fine," he said. His voice held a slight tremble to it, like he was slightly uneasy and yet he had a slightly more confident demeanour to him.

Annabeth turned around quickly and grabbed a glass of water from a passing waiter's trey. She placed it on the table and sat down across from him. "So … how've you been?"

Percy held the glass in both hands, his overgrown sweatshirt acting like a cover from the ice inside the glass. "Good. You?"

"Good."

They fell into a comfortable silence. At least, for Annabeth it was comfortable. For Percy he looked like he was being strangled by an invisible tension in the air that Annabeth did not feel. "So … where do you work?"

"Huh?"

"Your a life-guard. Where do you work?"

"Oh, that." Percy nodded unsteadily. "Montauk."

"Montauk?"

"Yeah," Percy said, relaxing visibly at a subject he was used to. "I used to go there with my mom, still do, for vacations and stuff. It's a bit far, but it's a really nice beach."

"Tell me about it," said Annabeth. She liked seeing Percy relax, like he wasn't watching every word he was saying. He seemed to sit up a bit, slightly more confident with himself as he started to tell stories from his childhood on a beach that Annabeth was suddenly itching to visit.

While he was telling her about a battle between himself and a seagull over a sandwich (which sounded epic, he had serious story telling skills), she was called back by Drew. "Sorry, my shift's over, I gotta go." It was cute the way his shoulders visibly slumped, but it was clear he was trying to hide it and doing a poor job too. "I'll be right back."

That made him brighten up quite quickly and Annabeth would be lying if she said she didn't adore that smile.

She left him there, twiddling his thumbs idly as she walked over to Drew who was pouting.

"He's hot, you stole him," she said in that pouty voice of hers, sticking out her bottom lip as though it were a representation of the welt the world had unfairly given her by letting Annabeth waiter on Percy.

"I didn't steal him," Annabeth said, rolling her eyes. "You're exaggerating."

"He's looking at you."

Annabeth didn't look over her shoulder. She just didn't. Because then she would probably see him and he'd probably get embarrassed and turn away and look all adorable and then she'd have to hug him to make the overload of cuteness manageable. She never thought she would like a guy who seemed so much … not less manly, but less confident. She liked the way he stumbled over his words, blushed easily, become shy, she found it endearing. He was the complete opposite of Luke and Annabeth realized now that perhaps Percy was what she needed.

"Tell me about him," Drew pressed. "Please?"

"You're kind of pathetic right now," Anabeth told her, rolling her eyes. She never thought she'd see the day when Drew of all people would sink so low as to try and bribe information out of her. "Can I just get my cheque and go? It's the end of the month, I should be getting paid."

"I'm going to talk to him," Drew declared.

"No, you shouldn't do that," Annabeth said. She remembered quite clearly how Percy had been around other people at the club, very awkward, very uncomfortable. When he had first walked up to her and spoken to her, she found his voice was solid and firm but he was sweating up a storm. "Besides, don't you prefer more … confrontational men? He's more …" She didn't want to say weak, she wouldn't say it. "… more meek." Somehow it was worse than weak.

But Drew wasn't listening she was already marching over to Percy and Annabeth could already tell that everything had gone to hell in a hand-basket.

Annabeth almost raced after Drew to see Percy looking up at her in surprise.

"Hi," said Drew, batting her eyelashes as if her eyelids had just had a seizure. This was her great plan to woo Percy? Annabeth almost laughed in her face, but she kept it in.

Percy stared at her, taking her all in before speaking. "You're gorgeous."

Annabeth stared at him. What had he just said? Did he just make a habit of telling girls they were pretty? She knew that Drew was pretty. She was tall with ringlets of dark hair and "warm" brown eyes, though to be honest Annabeth looked into them and saw no depth. Maybe she was exotic because she was Asian? Did that even make sense? Just because she was from Asia didn't make her exotic. More than half to the world's population was Asian, that didn't make her special. Annabeth almost choked on her own tongue. Was she acting _jealous_? Over _Drew_?

"Why thank you—"

"But Annabeth's prettier."

Okay, wow. That was blunt. But oddly flattering.

Drew looked shocked to say the least. She might need some extra-expensive pink princess lip-gloss to get over the sudden rejection and Annabeth could understand to some degree why she was surprised. For one, who greeted someone with a compliment, only to compare them to someone else moments later? For another, Drew was pretty. Prettier than Annabeth. There was no reason for why Percy saw her as better. And lastly, it was a huge blow to Drew's ego, not even that she was lesser than Annabeth, but that a somewhat lanky boy wearing what could almost pass as pyjamas was rejecting her.

Drew turned her head sharply to Annabeth. "I thought you said you didn't know him."

"I never said that," Annabeth said and she hadn't. She had just said that she didn't think he was single, which was also true, but he was single and loopholes were awesome. "I'm off the clock now Percy, wanna do something?"

Percy seemed to freeze, having been put on the spot and Annabeth felt a bit bad for doing it. But not too bad. He was cute all flustered.

"Um … okay."

Drew threw her hands up in the air, clearly ticked off. "Whatever, just take your money and leave," she huffed. She leaned closer to Percy and whispered in his ear not-so-quietly, "but if you ever get sick of her, call me up," and slipped him her phone number. That girl didn't know when to quit.

"Sorry about her," Annabeth apologized. "I'll just get my cheque now, be right back."

After receiving her pay Annabeth found Percy still sitting in the same place, staring blankly ahead.

"Boo!"

He jumped nearly a foot in the air.

"Easily scared?" Annabeth taunted cheerfully. She was certain she hadn't smiled so much since Luke.

Percy was blushing. It was officially the cutest thing she had ever seen, even more because he tried to hide it. "What was wrong with her?" asked Percy, his eyes following Drew as she hung up her apron and fixed her hair.

"Drew? She's just like that."

"No, I mean she's so … aggressive. And she wears way too much make-up and slips people secret codes," he said, gesturing towards her phone number.

"She was flirting with you."

"Huh?"

"You don't really get social situations, do you, Percy?"

Percy looked away from her and tucked his head in. "I …"

"It's fine," Annabeth said, waving it off. "She tends to have that affect on everyone."

"Right …" He seemed dazed but he shook it off. "What would we do though?"

Annabeth felt like she was back in middle school. Where you would awkwardly push your best friend over to the boy you liked and get them to ask him if he liked you, where you would pass a note that said "be my girlfriend? Check yes or no", where you were dating if you held hands in the halls and if you kissed and then broke up you were a slut. She felt like a child suddenly, like a decade younger.

"Percy, do you like me?"

Percy's head snapped up quickly. "Huh?"

"Do you like me?"

"Course I like you, why else would I bother talking to you? Or e-mailing you? Or bother to see you? Or um …" He was fiddling with his fingers, twirling a piece of paper between them, almost like he needed to do something with his hands. He had mentioned he had ADHD. "Here." He handed her the paper and then went to tapping on the table, unsure what else to do with his hands.

It was his number.

Annabeth wanted to make sure they were on the same page. "No, Percy, I mean do you _like_ me like me?" Well, couldn't get anymore middle school than that.

"W-what's that supposed to mean?" Percy asked, flushed.

Annabeth stared at him when a thought occurred to her that she had never even considered before. "Percy, have you ever had a girlfriend before?"

"Um …"

Annabeth stared at him. He wasn't serious, was he?

"Don't look at me like that! Girls just kind of … avoided me in school," Percy said. "I um … I'm a bit weird. I mean I've done _stuff_ , I'm not a virgin or anything …" He blushed even more when he said it. "I mean no one's ever set up the parameters to specifically use that sort of terminology in regards to me so I suppose my answer ought to be—"

"Are you okay?"

Percy started to nod, but quickly shook his head, his fingers tapping even faster on the table until he just gripped the tale all together tightly and his knuckles turned white. He was sweating a lot too, beads of sweat dripping down his forehead. It didn't help that he was wearing a heavy sweater in the middle of summer.

"Percy?"

Percy nodded. "I …" His lips barely moved, it came out as a whisper and a shaky one at that. "J-just g-give me a s-second …" He closed his eyes and Annabeth watched with almost fear as he slowed his breathing down, clenched and unclenched the table, his foot hitting against the floor a bit too fast. Finally his foot slowed to a reasonable speed, his breathing returned back to normal and he finally let go of the table. "I'm okay now."

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah, doesn't happen often," Percy said. "Just … on rare occasions." He looked embarrassed, beyond embarrassed.

"What was that?"

"Something I'd rather not talk about, if you don't mind," Percy said, his voice still trembling slightly. He tried to sound firm, but he failed. It wasn't force or anger behind his tone, more like … he was scared. "Do you want me to go?"

"No, it's fine," Annabeth said, still trying to get over what she had just seen. "I'll be right back."

She left him there, shaking. She felt really bad about it, but she was back in minutes. "Close your eyes," she told him softly.

Percy did it, no questions asked. He was too trusting.

She slid her surprise in front of him. "You can open them now."

Silence. Then—

"It looks like a cement brick someone painted blue."

Annabeth laughed. "Yeah, but you said you like blue food, right?"

"Yeah, I do." His voice was soft, a tone she had never heard before. It warmed her up to her core.

She got him talking and after a while it was as if nothing had happened.

"Why are you interested in architecture?" asked Percy suddenly in the middle of a conversation about whether or to the Teenager Mutant Ninja Turtles were able to live in New York.

"I …" Annabeth blushed. "I like the idea of leaving something behind. "That there'll be something I could create that could last forever. Besides …" Annabeth looked out the window. "Couldn't New York use some spicing up?"

"I guess … I don't really pay that much attention to stuff like that." Percy shrugged. "I'm just glad that the buildings I'm inside don't collapse on me."

Annabeth laughed.

"You have a really nice laugh," Percy said. It didn't sound like a compliment, nor did it sound like an insult. He said it like it was fact and once again, she started blushing. "How are you single again?"

"I'm a bit of a control freak," Annabeth said with a shrug. She didn't really buy any of the excuses Luke had given her, but to be honest he had started getting on her nerves anyway. "That, or my intelligence intimidated him."

"What, he wasn't one of those guys who are into sexy librarians?"

Annabeth blinked. "What?"

"I mean there are some guys who are into that, right?" Percy asked. "Like girls who wear glasses and tie their hair up so that the guys can undo it. Something about pencil skirts, stilettos and being told that you have a book overdue is apparently a turn on for some guys or something."

"Percy, that's basically the plot of some horribly filmed porn movie."

Percy blushed red. "I'm never listening to my friends ever again."

Annabeth grinned.

Talking to Percy was so easy. He would just babble to fill in silence, pushing himself through the conversation as if making a fool of himself didn't matter and she liked that. Humility, humble. With Luke it always felt as though she needed to impress him but all she had to do was look at him and Percy would fumble and she felt powerful. There was an ease that came to her that Luke never gave her.

She fault awful though, here was the adorably cute boy fumbling over his words and she was comparing him to her ex. If it was any consolation, Annabeth was regretting having dated him more and more.

"Percy …"

"Hmm?" he stopped talking in the middle of a story involving him and a rattlesnake. When someone like him would encounter a rattlesnake was beyond her, she didn't really get it, but that was okay since she would like to know the story at a later time.

"You never answered my question."

"What question?"

"Do you like me?"

Percy turned redder than Mario's hat. "Um …" He was tugging at a hole in his jeans. "Yeah …"

Annabeth grinned. "Good. I like you too."

Percy's head shot up like a canon. "Really?" It was almost comical how wide his eyes got. It was also kind of heartbreaking how surprised he was.

"Yeah, really." Annabeth leaned over the table, placing her head in her palms. "Do you want to be my boyfriend?"

"B-boyfriend?" Percy choked on thin air.

"Yeah," Annabeth said. "Do you?"

"Um … shouldn't it go the other way around?"

"What do you mean?"

"Do _you_ want me to be your boyfriend?"

Annabeth was a bit surprised. She expected him to ask her if she wanted to be his girlfriend, not reaffirm/question if she really wanted him to be her boyfriend. She grinned. "Yeah. Do you?"

Percy blinked. "Well, yeah but—"

"So it's settled then. You're my boyfriend."

Percy blinked stupidly. "Um … okay."

"You're okay with that, right?"

"Yeah, ecstatic."And it didn't sound sarcastic. She could tell he really meant it. "I'm just in shock. Give me a few seconds and then I'll be carting you off to Vegas or something." He blushed. "Forget I said that."

"No, I don't think I will. And if you ever do cart me off to Vegas, you'll have to write a note to my father. He'll want to know." Annabeth grinned. These strange conversations, she could get used to. Maybe she was jumping into the relationship too fast with someone she barely knew, but she felt like if they worked at it, they could be amazing together. These sort of conversations would've never happened with Luke, to be able to just accept what Percy said and talk about it, never knowing where the conversation may go, there was something exciting about it.

"Should we mark the date? So you know what day next month to kill me since I'll inevitably forget about our anniversary?"

"You think we'll last a month?" Annabeth teased.

"I think we'll last forever."

This time it was Annabeth's turn to blush. Guys like this just did not exist, they didn't walk out of romantic comedies to romance you awkwardly in a bar and then say sweet things like spending forever with you.

Percy seemed to get nervous then and the Prince Charming image was shattered into something much more human, someone with insecurities and worries and Annabeth knew she could make this work.

"I mean … don't you?" Percy asked slightly quieter. "I mean what do I know, I've never had a proper girlfriend before, I could suck at all this romance stuff and be dumped within a day, or even less, maybe I'll get into the Guiness Book of World Records for having one of the shortest lasting relationships in which case that makes what I just said really, really embarrassing, but I don't know it just kind of feels right to be around you and you're really easy to talk to, surprisingly for someone who's so attractive since normally those people are stuck up or intimidating or don't want to talk to me and—"

"Percy."

Percy stopped, his breathing harsh. He was sweating again, crushing the table again with his hand. His eyes met hers and she almost drown in the sea green.

"I think we'll last forever too."

Percy's breathing slowly evened out and he let go of the table. "Knew there was a reason I liked you."

* * *

 ** _Author's Note #2:_** _The thank-yous! Dear God, you guys jumped on this story fast and I feel pretty proud since it's my second_ ** _Percy Jackson_** _story, the first being_ ** _A Kiss for Victory_** _, which no one's reviewed to, so I just assumed no on liked it, but I did so it's there if you guys want to check it out. Now for the reviews!_

 _Alech14_ _: Really? I've read far better than I write. The thing is I didn't like_ ** _Perks of Being a Wallflower,_** _my school made me read it and I nearly puked while reading it. I didn't really like Charlie all that much and I never saw the movie because I got sick on the days we were watching it. I just amplified Percy's geekiness to max 9000._

 _nerdycook24_ _: He tried REALLY hard. That and if I purposefully left spelling errors in a story, I would go insane. I'm a grammar Nazi and when I would revise the story I would correct them. I figured I had to make him mention it was hard. I like the idea, I tried it in here but then it just went out the window. I think I'll use it for another chapter. I'm just going by chapter here, not really sure where it's headed._

 _abcathena_ _: So here's the thing: I have a very precise format. One that makes it so that sometimes my author notes take up more of the story than the actual story/chapter. This format includes putting the summary in every chapter, because I'm like that. If you have a problem with my formatting skills and the way I like to organize my chapters, to each their own._

 _XOmegaMasterXx_ _: I have no idea where it's going to be honest._

 _annabethisgr8_ _: Well, Percy_ ** _does_** _swim. But yeah, I guess that's it. Thank you so much, I'm always worried when I change characters since I like to be known for keeping them IN character. I wrote an_ _ **Artemis Fowl**_ _story and I was so proud that he was still in character._

 _Guest_ _: Thanks! Meg Ryan became my God after_ ** _When Harry Met Sally._**

 _veryfineautumn4869 (x2):_ _Sorry, whenever I see the end of your name, even if it says autumn I think of_ ** _Summer of 69_** _. If I could find real-life versions of fictional characters, my parents and sister could stop complaining that I don't have a boyfriend. If I were you, I might've accidentally called him Percy though and that would've been AWKWARD. I haven't read_ ** _House of Hades_** _, where I'm told Calypso comes back. Right now I really just ship Leo with Hazel. How much of my_ ** _One Piece_** _stories have you checked out? I've written 9_ ** _One Piece_** _stories,_ ** _Beautiful Disaster,_** _though long, is (I'm told, I'm still working on the monster of editing) nice, and it's completed and long so if you like my stuff, check that out. I enjoy reviews and if you leave a review on the last chapter I'll PM you personally to thank you._

 _So guys, since this story is going off on it's own, where do you think it should go next?_


	4. Chapter 4

_**Author's Note #1:** I don't own **Percy Jackson**. This was actually pretty hard to write just cause, like Annabeth, I had no idea what to say. Also, while I was writing this, I kept thinking about **Good Doctor** , a Korean drama. I'm thinking of maybe doing a story based off of it with Percy and Annabeth. Maybe. It's a really adorable show, definitely worth checking out if you're okay with subtitles. Warning though, episodes are long. Sorry for the wait, you guys jumped onto this thing like it was on fire. I really don't know where the plot is going, but ideas are welcome._

* * *

 ** _Foot In Your Mouth  
_** _by: Setkia_

* * *

 **"Sorry," he said quickly. "You're unnaturally pretty and I don't know how to deal with it." He reached out quickly and grabbed a glass from the counter, beginning to chug down its contents in order to shut himself up. And people wondered why he stayed home.**

* * *

Montauk was lovely and worth the drive with pretty white sand, a collection of small houses along the water and children playing on the shore. It was clearly a family-oriented place and the sound of the waves crashing against the sand made Annabeth smile. And then the wind whipped hair into her face.

Looking around she searched for Percy, expecting him to be seated in a tall life-guard chair, wearing swim trunks and sandals with a whistle around his neck. She was slightly disappointed that he was not there. Rather he was more on the ground, standing ankle-deep in the water, wearing cargo pants and a plain blue shirt. Around his wrist was an intricately tangled and woven lanyard with a whistle, clutched in his hand. If he were to let go of the whistle it would most likely just dangle centimetres away from his palm.

Annabeth couldn't resist sneaking up behind him and jumping on his back.

The force of her sudden attack lurched him forward and he fell to the ground. He looked over his shoulder at her, his eyes widening in surprise before a wave came. She clutched onto his back and looked up as the ocean passed over her head. With sunlight streaming through the water it looked beautiful. And of course, she got water up her nose.

When the tide receded Percy stood up and Annabeth held on. It almost looked as though she was being given a piggy-back-ride.

And then she felt a sudden thumping on her back.

Annabeth turned her head to see small children surrounding them, one of which was trying to attack her.

"Let go of him!" shouted the young one, pounding harder.

Percy bent down slightly for Annabeth to get off of him and shook his head at the little kid. "Guys, this is Annabeth," said Percy, gesturing towards her.

"Perry, is she your girlfriend?" asked one of the girls innocently.

"Well, actually, yes," Percy said, rubbing his neck sheepishly.

The girls started giggling and the boys pretended to choke on their fingers.

Annabeth looked at Percy, giggling. "Did one of them just call you Perry?"

"It's not the worst name they've called me, some of them are below the age of three," Percy said. "I don't know what's so complicated, I think they do it on purpose."

"I highly doubt that."

Percy pouted and it was adorable. "They can say Presley and parsley, I think they're pulling my leg by calling me Peter," said Percy, rolling his eyes.

Annabeth swung her arms next to her side, unsure of what to say next. Percy was easy to talk to, that was sure, and you could always guarantee you weren't the biggest fool in the area as long as you were next to him, which Annabeth found nice, especially since Percy just kind of went with it, but now she didn't know what to do. She was uncertain of her next words, kind of anxious and her heart sped up in a good way.

She wanted to hold his hand. It really did feel like middle school, suddenly all flustered over something as simple as skin on skin contact, but she really wanted to hold his hand. It looked firm and stable, and actually, really, really sweaty—

"Are you nervous?"

"What?" Percy's voice raised an octave. "What are you talking about? Nervous? Me? No way!" He bit the inside of his cheek and his face turned red. "What gave you that idea?"

Annabeth laughed. He really was too cute. Part of her thought he was an overgrown child, while another thought of him as thirteen year old who was experiencing puberty for the first time.

"It's okay to be nervous," she said with a laugh.

"I'm not. Nervous." Percy took a deep breath, looking as though he was waiting for the oxygen around him to suffocate him. "Okay. Maybe a bit."

"A bit?"

"A very big bit."

"That doesn't make sense."

"I don't usually make sense around beautiful women."

Annabeth could not get used to it, the way he said compliments so plainly and obviously, as though they were facts. And the thing was, he wasn't asking for anything in return, almost like he just felt like people deserved to know that they were pretty, same way you needed to know the weather. There was no two-way communication, he wasn't expecting anything back. It was refreshing.

"I think you're exaggerating, but thanks," Annabeth said with a small smile.

Percy nodded a bit nervously, same way someone thrown off-kilter would mutter semi-confident reassurances to themselves. "So … why'd you decide to drop by? Not that I have a problem with it, I don't know who would have a problem with it, being visited by someone as beautiful as you— you've fried my brain, I can't remember my point." He flushed slightly and Annabeth giggled. When was the last time she had done that?

"Do I need a reason to visit my boyfriend?"

"Boyfriend …" Percy had the most idiotic smile on his face. "It's weird saying that …"

"Good weird, or bad weird?"

Percy smiled at her and she felt her heart stop. "Good weird. Definitely good."

Suddenly, the cry of a child rang through the beach. Percy suddenly seemed as though he was on fire, alert, eyes scanning the area around him until they locked on a little girl. There was no danger, she wasn't drowning, but her sand castle had been kicked over by a bunch of bullies, which, in the eyes of a four year old, is ten times worse than losing all the oxygen in your lungs.

Percy walked over to her, Annabeth following behind him. Perhaps she didn't know very much about life-guards that she didn't think it was his job to help the child, but Percy seemed to think it was part of his duty to stop the child from crying. He dropped to his knees next to the little girl and gave her a small smile.

"Do you want me to help you rebuild it?"

The girl wiped away tears, though that only got sand in her eyes from how much dirt and sand was underneath her nails. Percy took the towel she was sitting on and slowly wiped them away. "Does it hurt to blink?" he asked her softly.

Annabeth found that in this instance, Percy reminded her of a doctor. A paediatrician. Specifically, the paediatrician who all the children liked and all the mothers flirted with because not only was he good looking, he treated their children better than their husbands did. Percy in a doctor's coat … Annabeth licked her lips.

"Hey, what are you doing?"

Three boys walked over to Percy, standing over him. They were probably preteens, a bit pudgy, glaring at him.

Percy didn't answer them. Instead he started to make the moat.

"Hey, I'm talking to you!"

The tallest boy, probably the leader, shoved Percy in the shoulder. Percy jolted forwards, but stayed silent, focusing instead on the girl.

"Leave him alone," said Annabeth.

"You're old," said the smallest one of the group.

"You're short," replied Annabeth.

"You're ugly."

That seemed to get Percy's attention. He looked up from the pail he was filling with sand and looked the boys right in the eyes. "Annabeth's beautiful."

The boys stared at him like he was an alien. "You're weird."

"I've been told that before," Percy said, seemingly unbothered.

"Go to your parents," said Annabeth. The girl looked slightly sensitive, the bullies who had pressumably destroyed her sand castle seemed back for more.

"You don't have any authority over us," said the leader.

"I do," said Percy. "Go back to your mothers, okay?" he asked, giving them a small smile.

"Why should we listen to you?"

"Because I'm in charge here." Did Percy just have unlimited patience that he was able to deal with them? Because Annabeth could not have done it.

"You're playing in the sand."

"So are you," Percy pointed out. It struck her once more that Percy really was the blunt type. For another thing, she realized that perhaps that was a problem with some people. Not everyone took such honesty nicely.

The boys couldn't fault Percy's logic though, with the sand squishing between their toes so they huffed and left.

Annabeth dropped to her knees next to Percy and the girl. "Want some help?"

* * *

Building sand castles was a lot more fun than she remembered. Perhaps it was because she was building them with someone. Sand castles, in Annabeth's mind, had the same right as buildings in that they could be as complex and intricate as they wanted to be and eventually the little girl got fed up with Annabeth's perfectionist actions and let she and Percy take over.

"You stole her sand castle," said Percy, trying to hide a laugh.

"So? My plan's better, it's gonna have a balcony and five floors. All the other kids will be jealous."

"You know that when high tide comes it'll be gone, right?"

"Then we'll just have to take a picture."

Percy stared at her.

"What?"

"Why are you dating me?"

Annabeth paused in the middle of determining the new perimeter (it was going to be an epically big sand castle) to brush aside a strand of hair from her face. "Well, I mean technically, we haven't been on a date yet. Unless you count this."

"Why are you going to date me?" Percy corrected himself.

"Because I like you," Annabeth said simply.

"You don't even know me."

"You don't know me any better than I know you," said Annabeth with a shrug. "Isn't that the whole point of dating? Getting to know someone?"

Percy frowned. "One of my friends told me it was to get some. What I never understood what the 'some' meant." He tilted his head to the side. "Do you know what he's talking about?"

Annabeth stared at him. Was he serious?

"Sex."

"What?"

"He was talking about sex."

Percy turned red in an instant. "Um …" He looked back down at his pail, which now matched the colour of his face. "Never mind then."

"Why are you asking?"

"My friends don't believe me when I tell them I've got a girlfriend," Percy said. "I mean not that I've told many of them, but they're a bit skeptical."

"I could meet them if you want—"

 _Click_.

Annabeth blinked.

"Did you just take a picture of me?"

"Yeah," said Percy. "Now I have proof." Suddenly he turned red. "I mean if it's okay with you— I'm screwing up already, aren't I?"

"Calm down, you're doing just fine," said Annabeth, laughing. "Though normally you don't take a picture like it's some sort of secret."

"Just fine?" Percy repeated. "Does that mean I'm meeting the bare minimum?"

Annabeth laughed. "You take things pretty literally, don't you?"

"Do you regret agreeing to this?" And Annabeth realized that despite his straight-forward way of speaking and how he seemed un-embarrassed by any of his actions, he really was uncertain about this whole relationship thing.

"No," said Annabeth with a smile. "Not even a bit."

Percy smiled and Annabeth couldn't help but think that even if Percy called her beautiful, he really was too.

Annabeth had forgotten what it felt like to be appreciated and for the first time in a long time, Luke was nowhere to be found in her thoughts.

* * *

 _ **Author's Note #2:** The thank-yous._

 _Rampageblast : Um ... here's your food?_

 _abcathena : Yeah, sorry, I have a certain style that may attribute towards my word count, but it's ... I don't know, I saw it somewhere and liked it, so I kept it/stole it. If you read any of my other longer stories, it really does add like 200 words to the total count._

 _PurplePirateofProcrascination : Thank you!_

 _Lushihunter65 : Why on Earth would I want my all-time favorite **Percy Jackson** couple to break up?_

 _nerdycook24 : I didn't want Percy to only be nice to Annabeth, I wanted him to be so bluntly honest that he just said what was on his mind and since Drew IS a daughter of Aphrodite, that means she's pretty. I was wondering if Percy would make that first move in asking about dating, but in the end I was like, "Nah, Annabeth's the take-charge kind of person, she'd do it", so she did._

 _Thundercade : Thank you! I took your comment and it inspired this chapter, so I hope it's good!_

 _Artemis Raven Courtney: See, the thing is, I hate it when they turn a non-douchebag character into a douchebag, it hurts my soul. So I was like, "Percy is REALLY geeky, in my head and in the books I feel like he is somewhat awkward with the way he narrates and how his mind works, so let's make him so geeky, it turns to level 9000". I felt like Percy and Annabeth's chemistry in the books mellowed once they got together, I didn't get the same squeely excitement from their interactions, which I still loved, but there was just something missing, I felt like they were too comfortable with each other. In my mind a perfect relationship means that you are comfortable with each other, but you're able to do all sorts of things you'd be uncomfortable about with that person and I felt like that awkwardness of their relationship that made it so endearing was gone. Do you get what I mean?_

 _VeryFineAutumn4869 : I loved writing that list. And now I have an idea for **Beautiful Moments** ..._

 _American Mayhem: I love writing relatable characters and realistic things with my own spin on it. My goal is basically to write a character who you could imagine walking down the street, because they're so realistic, maybe not with the same face but the same personality. Percy is me. I basically drew from my non-filter mind and made him say EVERYTHING that popped into his head, more or less._

 _Exxcaliburr : Is it wrong that I think of that THING (cause I've got no other words) from **Soul Eater** when I read your name? There was a huge lack of adorable- huggable-until-he-suffocates Percy stories, so I decided to cater to the needs of myself and potential readers._

 _percabethfantic : I do love writing, does it really show? Since you gave me your name, mine's AJ. I hope this chapter was good too._

 _DoomStone : Yeah, I know what you're talking about, I put it in there because ... I don't know why. I don't know how to deal with the ramifications of it, like I said, you gotta take the story chapter by chapter because I have no actual proper plans for it._

 _So ... what do you think? Question for the chapter: what do you think Annabeth's past is?_


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